MOUNT HOPE  A young woman whose "motherly instincts kicked in" stopped a man who was slashing his son with a sharp object Saturday during a wild assault at Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego.

Police said that Joseph Ramirez, 30, of San Diego took three of his children to the cemetery on Market Street just before 4:30 p.m. and starting slicing the forearms of his 8-year-old son. Ramirez reportedly had been hearing the voice of his dead grandmother in his head.

The incident began while Jaymisha Pires and Corey Granberry, both 21, were visiting the cemetery to visit the grave of Granberry's godson. Pires confronted Ramirez, begging him to release the boy.

"My motherly instincts kicked in when I saw him hurting that little boy," said Pires, who has children aged 6 and 2. "It was a blur. I just wanted him to stop."

Pires said Ramirez kept saying, "We're going to Jesus, we're going to Jesus." But Ramirez finally shoved the boy aside and ran. Granberry grabbed the boy and the two other Ramirez children. One was a toddler. The other appeared to be about 3. Granberry wrapped a T-shirt around one of the arms of the boy, who was bleeding badly.

Ramirez was tackled by Dana Fontenot, a 60-year-old security guard from Able Patrol and Guard who was on his third day of working at Mount Hope.

Fontenot shrugged and said, "It's all in a day's work."

Ramirez was taken to a hospital and he will be booked in jail for child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon, authorities said. His son was taken to Rady’s Children’s Hospital for treatment.

Officer David Stafford said he was unsure about the condition of the boy or his father.